Aside from the uncooperative weather (when did partly cloudy equal mist and rain), we had a great time on Saturday. It was great seeing everyone and it is interesting to take an objective look at how friendships survive.
Background: the 2 families who visited on Saturday–the mothers in the families were my friends/roommates from college.
One of the women I see pretty often. The other one lives in Arizona so we only see her once a year at most. But it had been 2 years since we last saw her. I asked the better-half if he wonders what drew us to each other all those years ago. I think we all hold the same truths to be self-evident but we come at them in very different ways.
My Arizona friend is kind of new-agey for lack of a better term. She’s into centering, blessed language and is a director for a theatre outreach program. It is obvious that her spiritual life filters into everything she does. She has grown into that way of thinking, I think. She made a point to grab my hand and A’s hand as she said goodbye. I can’t remember the last time I held hands with my friends. Hugs, yes, but standing around holding hands is not something we do.
My Virginia friend is religious as well and takes her faith seriously. She and her husband raise their kids in a Christian environment and from my perspective the kids have as much going on outside of the church as they do inside the church. They are able to balance the secular world with their faith. I never feel weird about her faith. I felt kind of weird about Arizona’s though. I don’t know why.
Then there’s me. I don’t go to church and can’t imagine ever returning to church. I feel like you can find your God without the help of others.
Oh, criminey, could this entry be any more disjointed if I tried? Why are some things so hard to express?
*Thomas Paine